The flood victims who received financial aid from Snehakoota Kshemabhivridhi Sangha in Kodagu.
Snehakoota Kshemabhivridhi Sangha, an association of Chikkamagaluru police and retired police personnel, has donated a total of Rs 3.55 lakh to the flood victims in Kodagu.
Snehakoota President M K Madhu said the members of the association had donated the money.
Snehakoota President M K Madhu, Vice Presidents Mahadevaswamy, K M Yogish, Treasurer A D Suresh and Directors Jayanna and Shashidhar visited various villages in Kodagu to identify genuine victims and to hand over the amount.
They visited Udayagiri, 2nd Monnangeri, Jodupala, Hemmathala, Madenadu and Kalooru villages in the district and collected information about the background of the affected families. After estimating the losses and income sources of the victims, the amount has been distributed among 15 families. Each family was given a sum of Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> District / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / January 02nd, 2019
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K Lakshmipriya speaks at a preparatory meeting in Madikeri on Wednesday.
A three-day Pravasi Utsav will be held in Kodagu district from January 11 to 13.
The officials should make all the preparations for the success of the Utsav. Wide publicity should be given to ensure that a large number of tourists take part in the fest, said Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K Lakshmipriya.
Speaking at a preparatory meeting on Wednesday, she said public participation in the Utsav was a must.
Deputy Director of Tourism Department H P Janardhan said a variety of cultural programmes would be held from 6 pm to 10 pm on all the days. In addition, food stalls will be set up and exhibition on handicrafts and others will also be held.
The Department of Animal Husbandry will organise a dog show on January 12. The Horticulture Department will organise fruits and flowers show on all the three days at Raja Seat in Madikeri from January 11, he added.
An open street festival will be held from 8 am onwards on January 13. Yoga demonstration will also be held at 8 am on January 13, Janardhan said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinivasan directed the officials to make arrangements for the opening of stalls for the exhibitions.
“Sanitation and cleanliness should be given priority. Further, e-toilets should be set up,” he added.
AC T Javare Gowda, DySP Sundarraj and others were present.
source: http://www.decccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Districts / by Adithya K A / DH News Service / Madikeri – January 02nd, 2019
Recalling that the district administration had banned tourists from Kodagu from August 16 to September 9 until the roads were restored.
Sa Ra Mahesh said, ”After all this effort we are seeing good inflow of tourists now”.
Devastated by floods and landslides in August, Kodagu has returned to normalcy with its hotels, resorts, lodges and homestays filling up once again this holiday season thanks to the efforts of the district administration and tourism department.
The 200 hotels lodges and resorts and 4000 homestays of Kodagu have reported 85 to 90 per cent occupancy since December 22 and there is expected to be no let-up till January 1, according to stakeholders in the tourism industry.
But the revival of the tourism industry has not been without effort as the hotels, lodges and resorts which usually charged double their actual room rent end of the year in the past, have this year offered huge discounts of 25 to 50 per cent, reveals honorary advisor of the Kodagu District Resorts, Hotels and Restaurants’ Association, Chidvilas.
Recalling that the district administration had banned tourists from Kodagu from August 16 to September 9 until the roads were restored after the floods and landslides, he says hardly any tourists visited the district in the next few months. But later, tourism minister, Sa Ra Mahesh took special interest and along with the Kodagu district administration began the “Kodagu is Back” campaign in 30 languages on social media to woo them back. ” We also came up with four short films to promote Kodagu as a destination for families, couples, and adventure and nature and yoga enthusiasts on social media,” he explains.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and the scion of the Mysuru royal famil, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who is the tourism ambassador for the Mysuru- Kodagu also gave voice-overs for the short films and the tourism department promoted the district at the Delhi airport and held a “Destination Kodagu” road show in Chennai.
“After all this effort we are seeing good inflow of tourists now. But after January 1 the bookings are still not good enough,” he regrets, adding that an open street festival will be held early next year to draw more tourists to the district.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Shilpa P, Deccan Chronicle / January 01st, 2019
Addressing students of various colleges, he narrated his journey into athletics, which laid the foundation for a long-lasting career.
At BU, athlete Arjun Devaiah emphasised the importance of physical activity in daily life
Bengaluru :
Bangalore University, in collaboration with the Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS), organised a talk by Arjuna-awardee and international athlete Arjun Devaiah on Saturday at Venkatagiri Gowda Auditorium, Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bangalore University.
Addressing students of various colleges, he narrated his journey into athletics, which laid the foundation for a long-lasting career.An acclaimed athlete, Devaiah is a national record holder in 4*100 metres and 4*100 metres relay race. He is the only person in Indian sports history to hold these records simultaneously. Now, he is focusing on youth empowerment and has become a motivational speaker.
Devaiah insisted that students should keep away from the mobile phone culture, and instead, spend time engaging in activities. “Everyone should spend at least one hour on physical activities every day,” he said.
The event was presided over by HN Ramesh, principal, University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering; R Srinivas, head of Phys-Ed Department, National Service Scheme; Manasa Nagabhushanam, director, CESS.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / December 31st, 2018
Tourists have been visiting Madikeri in large numbers to spend their Christmas holidays and to celebrate the new year.
A large number of tourists visited Raja Seat, Omkareshwara temple, Abbey falls, Madikeri Fort, Dubare, Harangi dam, Talacauvery, Bhagamandala and Irpu.
Following landslides in Kodagu, the turnout of tourists had decreased drastically, which had worried the resort and homestay owners.
The long holidays for government offices, banks, schools and colleges, has made the tourists happy.
Commercial establishments at General Thimayya Road, Kohinoor Road, bus stand and hotels made brisk business.
In some hotels, meals were not available after 2 pm. The hotel owners said that there was a problem in preparing meals as the number of tourists had increased suddenly.
Tourists from different places enjoyed the traditional Kodava cuisine.
There was an increase in the traffic density on the roads. Police had a hard time controlling traffic movement, especially on Monday night.
The shopkeepers and hoteliers are expecting more people in the coming days till the end of the year.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Districts / by Adithya K A / DH News Service / Madikeri – December 25th, 2018
None of the five members, who watched the film ‘Paarane’ to certify, knew Kodava language
Mysuru:
Kodava film ‘Paarane’ that has been screened in several National and International Film Festivals cannot be screened in the upcoming Bengaluru International Film Festival. Reason: Regional Office of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has rejected certification for the movie because the members who watched it did not like the colour grading and the long-duration shots in it.
Shockingly, none of the people at CBFC who watched the movie knew Kodava language, which is crucial to make a decision of issuing certification! Now, forget Bengaluru International Film Fest, the movie-makers cannot even apply for National Film Awards without a CBFC certificate.
‘Paarane’, directed by Shreelesh S. Nair, tells the story of struggle by people from a village named Paarane for their existence and entity. Encroachers attack and try to destroy their native natural resources in the name of business. Realising this, the protagonists revolt against the invaders. The high-point of the film is that it is made on a shoestring budget of merely Rs. 3 lakh, as claimed by the Director. None of the actors were professionally into films and it introduces many new actors. Its duration is 1 hour and 32 minutes.
Nair, who is from Kerala and currently a resident of Bengaluru, said that the movie cast people from Paarane village and filmed around Kodagu district with sync sound. ‘Paarane’ has won the Certificate of Achievement at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival. The film also participated in the Kolkata International Film Festival and has been selected for the Golden Grand Film Festival, Redwood Film Festival and Eurasian Film Festival.
Shreelesh S. Nair
“A Kodava language film making it to film festivals, which is first time in India, has definitely excited the team. It has been nominated at Indonesia Film Festival and a small festival to be held in Berlin,” Nair said.
Tasting success at International level, Nair approached CBFC’s Regional Office in Bengaluru for certification. “None of the five members, including the Regional Officer, who watched ‘Paarane’ knew Kodava language. The film has only 11 shots in it and the CBFC objected to it. I was asked why there were no close-up shots of actors,” Nair said.
“Shockingly, a CBFC official who objected to the colour grading, said why was Coorg not looking beautiful and I told him that was the way I have made the film. The official insisted that he has rules to follow and cannot certify any film and I told him to please show me the rule book. Only if rules are made public filmmakers can know what kind of films CBFC object to,” Nair said.
Nair, who took objection to the way he was treated at Regional Office of CBFC, was told to go to court or appeal to CBFC head office in Mumbai. And for that he needs Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000. “I made the movie in a small budget of Rs. 3 lakh and I don’t have the resources for the appeal and to go to the court,” he said.
Advocates who are in the know of CBFC guidelines said that the CBFC can reject a scene when it is vulgar, if it provokes communal tensions or threatens to damage the sovereignty or integrity of India or extremely and unnecessarily violent.
The CBFC does not have powers to reject certification on a movie’s total length or dull colour as it amounts to denying freedom of expression of the film-maker, lawyers said.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / December 28th, 2018
Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponnappa turned out to be amazing pranksters as they tricked a bunch of kids at a badminton academy in Secunderabad, disguised as old people.
Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponappa played a prank on young kids.
Indian badminton stars Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponnappa turned out to be amazing pranksters as they tricked a bunch of kids at a badminton academy in Secunderabad, disguised as old people.
The two proved that they are not only ace badminton players but also brilliant actors when they disguised themselves as an old couple and went to the Garuda Badminton Academy, pleading for a few minutes of playtime with the kids training there.
Granted five minutes of playing time, rather half-heartedly, the two seemed to annoy the kids by showing some poor badminton skills, pretending they have back-ache, before unleashing their true self to a loud cheer from everyone watching at the academy. The kids later ran towards Srikanth and Ponnappa as they removed their mask to reveal who they were, asking for autographs.
Srikanth and Ponnappa, who are currently playing the fourth season of the Pro Badminton League, are not the only athletes to have carried out such a stint. Football star Cristiano Ronaldo had once disguised himself as a bearded homeless man and embarassed a kid on the street with his skills.
Ashwini Ponappa is playing for Hyderabad Warriors in the Pro Badminton League season four while Kidambi Srikanth represents Bengaluru Raptors.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sports / by Sports Desk / December 29th, 2018
Police personnel take part in a round of tug of war in Madikeri on Saturday.
Sports helps in maintaining mental and physical health of an individual, said IGP (Southern range) K V Sharath Chandra.
He was speaking at the valedictory of the annual sports meet for police personnel at the Police Grounds in Madikeri town on Saturday night.
Sports helps overcome stress,” the IGP reminded.
Kodagu Superintendent of Police Dr Suman D Pennekar said police personnel in the district in the last five months had faced a lot of challenges. All the officers had been working honestly, she commended.
Running race, tug of war, slow bike race and other competitions were held during the tournament.
Deputy Commissioner P I Sreevidya, retired police officers association president Chotu Appayya and others were present during the valedictory.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Naina J A / DH News Service / Madikeri – December 23rd, 2018
Set to grab attention: Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan believe their styles complement each other well enough to go all the way.
Our lefty-righty combo will be to our advantage, says Divij
Not since 2013, when Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna combined, have two of the highest-ranked Indian doubles players come together to play on the ATP Tour.
As the 2019 season-opener, the Tata Open Maharashtra, gets underway from Monday, Bopanna teaming up with Divij Sharan is set to grab attention. The two best doubles practitioners in the land won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta and clearly have the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in their sights.
“Really happy to be playing with someone from India again,” said Bopanna. “It has been a long time and it is special to travel and compete with someone from your own country. We thought this may be a good opportunity looking at Tokyo as well.”
In fairness, the present seems nothing like the 2013 heyday when India had three players in the world’s top 10. Bopanna is now ranked 37 and Divij 39. Yet, it hasn’t stopped the duo from feeling upbeat. Divij in particular, after playing with a dozen partners this year, hoped the latest association might just be the right one.
“Rohan has got a big game, which can help us go all the way [in tournaments],” he explained. “Our lefty-righty combo will be to our advantage too. What will make a difference is us doing good in a few big tournaments, which was missing in my previous partnerships. I think both of us, with our strengths, can go really deep.”
Bopanna believed that they complement each other well. “Divij moves well at the net and volleys better while I hit with a lot of power from the back of the court,” said the 38-year-old. “It helped us at the Asian Games when we came through a couple of super tiebreaks by really working to our strengths. But we still have so much to learn.”
In such a nascent partnership, Divij felt that it was important not to worry about results and the accompanying pressures early on.
“We shouldn’t think too much even if we have a great first few weeks,” the 32-year-old said. “Initially you just try and get used to playing with each other. We are confident that we can do well. We just need to give ourselves that chance.”
Big-match experience
According to Bopanna, his big-match experience would come in handy. “Divij hasn’t had a full year playing all the Masters,” he said. “My being there to constantly guide him through that will be an advantage. It was a similar thing when I was with Mahesh because I had someone who had already done it at that level.”
“Also, training and being together makes a difference. Most successful doubles teams do that. When I played with [Pablo] Cuevas (in 2017), we had good results but we didn’t practise much because he was playing singles. So looking forward to competing alongside Divij.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Tennis / by N. Sudarshan / Pune, December 29th, 2018
America Kannada Koota and Havyaka Sangha donated a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to the Madikeri Rotary Club to be handed over to the Kodagu flood victims.
At a programme organised, doctor couple settled in Atlanta – Dr Subrahmanya Bhat and Dr Annapoorna Bhat – handed over the cheque to Rotary Club President O S Chingappa.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Subrahmanya Bhat said that Kannadigas were saddened at the devastation caused following flood and landslides in Kodagu in August.
Dr Annapoorna Bhat said also spoke.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Naina J A / DH News Service / Madikeri – December 23rd, 2018
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